De veteribus germanorum aliarumque nationum sigillis.

The study of seals, known as sigillography or sphragistics, developed as an independent discipline much later than numismatics did.

Jean Mabillon (1632-1707), a monk in the Abbey of Saint-Germain, laid the foundations for the scientific study of original documents, including paleography and sigillography, in his De re diplomatica libri VI (1681).

Heineccius (not to be confused with his brother Johann Gottlieb Heineccius, the famous ancient historian and legal scholar) built upon the epistemological framework set out by Mabillon. His book focused exclusively on seals, including Byzantine seals.

Comprehensive studies of Byzantine seals finally appeared in the 19th century.